Certain power tools are made to be portable with removable batteries to allow for recharging. A battery pack is attached to the power tool to provide power for operation of the tool. Power tools are known having shoe batteries with horizontal slide-in locking features.
The prior art includes hand-held power tools with releasably mountable battery units for providing electrical current. The battery unit can have contact surfaces that align with contacts connected to the motor. Electrical coupling of drive motors with removable battery units can be made by pedestal connections and horizontal slide-in shoe connections.
One of the problems that occurs with power tools having removable battery packs is that the tool terminals may not properly align with the battery terminals. Misalignment of these terminals may produce a faulty or missing connection. Rigid mounting of these connections may result in damage to the connection. It would be undesirable to provide a tool that results in a faulty or damaged connection, such that it might require repair or failure of the tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,573 discloses a rechargeable battery with an adjustable contact. It discloses a floating battery terminal assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,815 discloses a hand machine tool with a battery operated drive motor that has a plug coupling for electrical contacting of the drive motor with the battery unit mounted on the hand machine tool. The coupling includes a base provided at the machine side and displaceable relative to a machine housing. The base has contact springs that are in contact with contact surfaces provided on a plug housing of the battery unit. A centering element is located between the base and the plug housing and provides a fitting abutment between the contact springs and the contact surfaces. The base is displaceable within a certain limit.
In this regard, alignable battery terminal or contacts are generally less expensive to make, adjust or repair than the electrical connectors on the base of the tool.
It is also desirable to have alignable battery terminals or contacts than connect to a floating terminal block in the tool.